I adore you. The end. {Papiria}

Hi, crafty friends. I’ve played with colors and texture on today’s card. It’s fun to play.

This time, I landed on Honeysuckle, Sprout and Tidepool, which are all colors from Concord & 9th. I started by die cutting hexagons from my three colors using the Simply Hexagons die from Pinkfresh Studio.

Onto the Sprout hexagons, I stamped leaves from the Leaf Clusters stamp set from Altenew using Sprout ink. On the Tidepool hexagons, I ink blended for a gradient look using Tidepool ink before dry embossing with an old stencil from Memory Box (Texture Dot Grid) for some added texture. I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment onto one of the pink hexagons and left the other one plain. I glued additional hexagons behind each and even added foam tape behind the sentiment one for even more dimension. Dimension is life, after all.

After adhering everything to my card base, I cropped the card down slightly. It matched my design better, so this card is 4 x 5 3/8″. I added opal gem stones from Spellbinders near the sentiment to draw the eye in.

The dimension makes it look like these hexagons are floating on the front of the card, and the pink one with the sentiment is floating a bit more than the rest.

Bunny Hugs {Lili of the Valley}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a sweet card to share with you today, featuring this cute Two Little Bunnies image from Lili of the Valley. This is a digital stamp, but there’s also a clear stamp version in the recently released Spring Sweeties stamp set.

I separated the image into two, so I could create staggered postage stamps on my final card. I colored the images with Copics, and used the Postage Collage die from Waffle Flower to turn them into postage stamps. I also die cut a third postage stamp and stamped the sentiment in the center of it using Obsidian ink from Altenew. The sentiment itself is from the Easter Bunnies stamp set from Simon Hurley. Once I knew the sentiment was dry, I masked off the edges of the postage stamp and ink blended the center rectangle using Grapefruit ink from Concord & 9th.

I cut down a sheet of Powder cardstock from Concord & 9th to fit the front of an A2 card, and used the Linen & Canvas impression plate from Papertrey Ink to add some subtle texture to the background. I adhered it to a white top fold card base and arranged my postage stamps, adding various thicknesses of dimension behind each for some interest, before finishing off with a few pearls from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

I realize now that I’m missing a few colors in this graphic. I used RV42, R11 and YR000 for the peachy pink.

Bee happy {Streamside Studios}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a sweet bee card to share today, featuring the bees in the Spring Squishies digi stamp set from Streamside Studios.

I colored the bees with my Copics, fussy cut them and put them aside while I worked on the rest of the card. Using the Simply hexagons cover die from Pinkfresh Studio, I die cut hexagons from a subtle dotted patterned paper from Waffle Flower, and I added two white die cuts behind each for dimension, before adhering them to the card.

I die cut the letters to spell bee from Berry Sorbet cardstock from Papertrey. ink using the Parker alphabet die set from Memory Box. I stacked four of each letter for dimension and added them to the card in a wonky fashion to introduce a little playfulness to the card. I stamped and white heat embossed HAPPY on a strip of Mushroom cardstock from Concord & 9th, added a few extra strips behind it for dimension. I added the bees using foam squares for a little bit of lift and finished off the card with a few gems and a heart from the Strawberry Champagne mix from Streamside Studios.

Very simple color palette for this one.

Hug to you from me {Kort & Godt}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a super simple, yet a little artsy card to share today, featuring a couple of stamps and some string from Kort & Godt.

I started by stamping and heat embossing the sentiment directly on the card base, which I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I stamped in Obsidian ink from Altenew and used clear embossing powder from Ranger. This is my preferred way to get a black embossing, as black embossing powder is tricky to work with. Once the sentiment was in place, I used the Watercolor Stripes stencil from Altenew and masked off the stripe that showed the sentiment through the opening. I ink blended using Avocado, Cobblestone, Briar Rose and Carnation inks from Concord & 9th, as well as Pink Crystal Fresh dye ink from Altenew.

I wanted some black splatters on my card and used a size 4 paint brush with My Favorite Things Extreme Black reinker to get those black spots. I may have gone a little overboard, but I still like it. I stamped and heat embossed onto vellum a leaf image from the same stamp set as the sentiment, fussy cut it and colored the leaves from the back using my YG25 Copic marker. The vellum is heavyweight translucent vellum from My Favorite Things. I adhered the vellum piece to my card and finished off with a pink bow.

Kort & Godt products used:

M475 (stamp set)

TR-108 (pink string)

Hello {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, crafty friends. I have a sweet card to share today featuring Amanita from Mo Manning. I love Mo’s fairies, and I’ve used this one before – on this card. This time, I flipped the image so she’s facing the other direction, it’s one of the advantages of using digital stamps.

I colored the image with my Copics, cut my panel way down and even cut a little bit around the image for a fun effect.

I decided to cover the card base with patterned paper. This one is from Waffle Flower, it’s from their dot pattern in the Christmas color scheme. It’s not too distracting, the colors work well with the colors I’ve used and the dots work well with this amanita mushroom hat.

I mounted the panel with my image using foam tape and adhered it left of center on the card, so a little bit of the patterned paper would peek out on the right, and a lot of it would peek out on the left.

I die cut the word hello from the Sweet Sentiments die set from Altenew using Pure Poppy cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I die cut four layers and stacked them together for dimension. This is a very fine lined die cut, and I’ve found that using microdot adhesive is a good way to go. Even liquid glue in a fine tip bottle will ooze out the sides on this one, it’s so fine.

I finished off with a few pearls from the Glossy Porcelain mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

This is such a bright, happy color palette.

For you {Streamside Studios}

Hi, crafty friends. I have some chocolate for you today. Well, a paper chocolate, featuring the Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cows digi stamp set from Streamside Studios. This set has five cute cows, a chocolate bar and a bunch of other little accessories that you can use. I replaced the heart and the text on the wrapper for my chocolate, and put one of the cows there instead. This sort of mimics a Stratos chocolate bar, and that’s the look I was going for.

I colored my chocolate bar with Copics and fussy cut right up against the black stamp lines. Most of these lines are straight, which made it super easy to use a steel ruler and a craft knife to get precise cuts.

The Stratos cow is a very happy blue card, so it’s not entirely the same, but I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch with the blue wrapper and the cow on the card.

I created the card base from Something Blue cardstock from My Favorite Things. I used the Angled Mosaic 3D embossing folder from Altenew to give it some texture and interest.

I used the Watercolor Wash Free Form die from My Favorite Things and die cut from white cardstock. I think the free form makes it look like spilled milk, and it was the perfect grounding element for the chocolate.

I used the Sweet Sentiments die set from Altenew to die cut the sentiment. I stacked four die cuts of each word for strength and dimension, the top one from Ballet Slipper cardstock from Concord & 9th, added the sentiment to the card and finished off with a few sequins from the She’s So Lovely mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

Simple color palette.

Hug {Kort & Godt}

Hi, crafty friends. I’m sharing a very blue card today, that I shared on the Kort & Godt gallery blog earlier in the week. It’s no secret that blue’s my favorite color, and the forgetmenots in this basket were screaming at me to use them.

I die cut the image into a circle and put lots of foam tape on the back. I created a card base from Periwinkle cardstock from Hero Arts, and used the Angled Mosaic 3D embossing folder from Altenew to create some fun texture.

I added the circle to the top center, die cut the word klem (hug) three times from Something Blue cardstock from My Favorite Things, stacked the three for dimension and adhered the top of the letters to the bottom of the circle. This creates a shadow on the bottom half of the letters that I wouldn’t get if I had created additional layers and adhered the die cut directly on the card base. Because the die cut is three layers thick, it won’t get squished in the mail even though it’s floating. I added a sentiment sticker strip on top of the die cut and finished off with a couple of faceted pearls.

Kort & Godt products used:

Die-244 Klem

ST1013 – sentiment sticker strip

MA1011 – image

ST178 – pearls

Sending lots of love and hugs {Mo’s Digital Pencil}

Hi, everyone. We’re almost two weeks into spring, but there are still patches of snow and ice on the ground, and there’s even more snow in the forecast. I’m compensating by making happy, colorful cards and this one features Daisy Daisy from Mo’s Digital Pencil.

I colored the image with Copics, added some simple ground and flowers next to her and die cut my panel using the largest die in the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower, before adhering it to a card base I created from Lazy Day cardstock from My Favorite Things. It’s been a really long time since I’ve made one of my signature “cluster cards”, so I decided it was time for a new one. I keep little die cut scraps in storage pockets sorted by color, which makes it easy to find pieces that will fit any color combination I’ve chosen for my image. I play around with the composition, and when I’m happy, I adhere it all to my card. Some directly, some using foam tape. This gets very thick very fast, but I love this process.

I stamped a sentiment from the Pristine Peonies stamp set from Altenew using Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide ink, then die cut it into a banner using one of the dies in the Essential Stitched Sentiment Strips die set from My Favorite Things. This goes really well with the other fishtail banners I already had going in my cluster, and the color matches nicely with the pink striped patterned paper from Sunny Studio that I used. I finished off with a few enamel dots from the Pocketful of Sunshine pack from Altenew.

Very springy color palette. I’m here for it!!

Hello {Rachelle Anne Miller Creative Studios}

Hi, crafty friends. Today’s release day over at Rachelle Anne Miller. This month’s theme is Year of the Dragon. I’m a big fan of dragons, and I couldn’t resist this cutie with his little chick friend. This is the Earth stamp, there’s also wood, metal, water and fire, as well as a new pack of digital patterned paper, which I also incorporated into my design.

I colored the image with my Copics, then used the second largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 2 set from My Favorite Things to turn it into a nice panel with a faux stitch edge. I put a few additional layers of cardstock behind my colored piece for dimension and adhered it to a card base that I had covered in the patterned paper in this release. I used the blossoms, I thought the pattern went well with the blooms in the image and colored my dragon to be a good color match.

Using the Waterbrush Hello Die from Altenew, I die cut three layers from white cardstock and one from the patterned paper, adhered them together for a stacked look and placed the die cut so it nestles in with the image, before finishing off with a few pearls. These Panduro pearls are very pale pink and they’re at least ten years old, but they worked really well for this card. I also used a black Glaze pen from Sakura to add shine to the eyes, and on the dragon, I added a white dot to each eye once the black was dry.

Simple color palette this time, one that really makes me think of (and long for) spring. Even though spring technically starts today in the Northern Hemisphere, it doesn’t feel like it yet. I’m getting impatient, I’m 100 % over the cold weather.

Hello, sweet friend {Amanda Jayne Designs}

Hi, crafty friends. A few weeks ago, Amanda over at Amanda Jayne Designs asked me if I wanted to color up a few of her new images. I usually jump at the chance to color, and her images are often pretty small and really cute. I shared the coloring of this Little Friend image on Instagram, but I now have the finished card to share.

I used the second largest die in the Watercolor Rectangle STAX die set from My Favorite Things to turn my colored piece into a panel with a fun edge. I added some layers of cardstock behind it and adhered it to a top fold card base I created from Berry Sorbet cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

I used the Sweet Hello die from My Favorite Things to create my sentiment. I die cut four from white cardstock and one from Grapefruit cardstock from Concord & 9th and adhered them all together for a stacked, dimensional look. I stamped and white heat embossed a sub sentiment from the IWCL2017005 English stamp set from InkyWings on a strip of Berry Sorbet cardstock and added it to my die cut sentiment, making sure to put a few layers of cardstock behind it on the part that overhangs. I added a few sequins from the White Orchid Sequin Mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards, and put a dot of black Glaze pen from Sakura on the squirrel’s eye for a little bit of shine and dimension to finish off the card.

I used a lot of colors for this simple image.